Natural ventilation of large air masses: Experimental and numerical techniques review

Natural Ventilation (NV) contributes to the energy performance and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) of existing buildings and Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB). To predict and validate the airflow rates and patterns of airflow inside buildings, studies have been investigating the different methods, techniques, and tools to evaluate ventilation performance. However, few studies have investigated the experimental methodology in full-scale models and/or in-situ to validate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models for large air masses. This study aims to review the experimental methodologies applied to study the natural ventilation of large air masses and techniques used for the validation of CFD models. This study is supported by a scientific repository and compares the variables, methodologies and simplifications applied in the study by NV of large air masses and normal air masses since studies of large spaces are scarce and therefore studies of normal spaces can provide reasonable indicators to consider. In the experimentation mostly no patterns and direct relationships were identified between parameters, dimensions, and studies. In the simulation, a greater agreement was observed in the formulation of the models, however, it was concluded that the definition of boundary conditions and the validation process is typically dependent on the complementary experimentation process. Some perceptions, conclusions and suggestions were provided to assist the study of large air masses, through the reliability of the validation of the CFD models.